The present invention relates to signal monitoring apparatus and in particular, but not exclusively to telecommunications monitoring apparatus which may be arranged for monitoring a plurality of telephone conversations.
Telecommunications networks are increasingly being used for the access of information and for carrying out commercial and/or financial transactions. In order to safeguard such use of the networks, it has become appropriate to record the two-way telecommunications traffic, wether voice traffic or data traffic, that arises as such transactions are carried out. The recording of such traffic is intended particularly to safeguard against abusive and fraudulent use of the telecommunications network for such purposes.
More recently, so-called xe2x80x9ccall-centersxe2x80x9d have been established at which operative personnel are established to deal with enquiries and transactions required of the commercial entity having established the call-center. An example of the increasing use of such call-centers is the increasing use of xe2x80x9ctelephone bankingxe2x80x9d services and the telephone ordering of retail goods.
Although the telecommunications traffic handled by such call-centers is monitored in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the call-center, the manner in which such communications networks, and their related call-centers, are monitored are disadvantageously limited having regard to the data/information that can be provided concerning the traffic arising in association with the call-center.
For example, in large call-centers, it is difficult for supervisors to establish with any confidence that they have accurately, and effectively, monitored the quality of all their staff""s work so as to establish, for example, how well their staff are handling customers"" enquiries and/or transaction requirements, or how well their staff are seeking to market/publicise a particular product etc.
The present invention seeks to provide for telecommunications monitoring apparatus having advantages over known such apparatus.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided signal monitoring apparatus comprising
means for monitoring signals representing communications traffic;
means for identifying at least one predetermined parameter by analysing the content of at least one monitored signal;
means for recording the occurrence of the identified parameter;
means for identifying the traffic stream associated with the identified parameter;
means for analysing the recorded data relating to the said occurrence; and
means, responsive to the analysis of the said recorded data, for controlling the handling of communications traffic within the apparatus.
Preferably, the means for controlling the handling of the communications traffic serves to identify at least one section of traffic relative to another.
Also, the means for controlling may serve to influence further monitoring actions within the apparatus.
Advantageously, the analysed contents of the at least one signal comprise the interaction between at least two signals of traffic representing an at least two-way conversation. In particular, the at least two interacting signals relate to portions of interruption or stiltedness within the traffic.
Preferably, the means for monitoring signals can include means for recording signals.
Preferably, the means for recording the occurrence of the parameter comprises means for providing, in real time, a possibly instantaneous indication of said occurrence, and/or comprises means for storing, permanently or otherwise, information relating to said occurrence.
Dependent upon the particular parameter, or parameters, relevant to a call-center provider, the present invention advantageously allows for the improved monitoring of traffic so as to identify which one(s) of a possible plurality of data or voice interactions might warrant further investigation whilst also allowing for statistical trends to be recorded and analysed.
The apparatus is advantageously arranged for monitoring speech signals and indeed any form of telecommunication traffic.
For example, by analysing a range of parameters of the signals representing traffic such as speech, data or video, patterns, trends and anomalies within a plurality of interactions can be readily identified and these can then be used for example, to influence future automated analysis, and rank or grade the conversations and/or highlight conversations likely to be worthy of detailed investigation or playback by the call-center provider. The means for monitoring the telecommunications signals may be advantageously arranged to monitor a plurality of separate two-way voice, data or video conversations, and this makes the apparatus particularly advantageous for use within a call-center.
The means for monitoring the telecommunications signals advantageously arranged to monitor the signals digitally by any one variety of appropriate means which typically involve the use of high impedance taps into the network and which have little, or no, effect on the actual network.
It should of course be appreciated that the invention can be arranged for monitoring telecommunications signals transmitted over any appropriate medium, for example a hard-wired network comprising twisted pair or co-axial lines or indeed a telecommunications medium employing radio waves.
In cases where the monitored signal is not already in digital form, the apparatus can advantageously include analogue/digital conversion means for operating on the signal produced by the aforesaid means for monitoring the telecommunications signals.
It should also be appreciated that the present invention can comprise means for achieving passive monitoring of a telecommunications network or call-centre etc.
The means for identifying the at least one predetermined parameter advantageously includes a Digital Signal Processor which can be arranged to operate in accordance with any appropriate algorithm. Preferably, the signal processing required by the means for identifying the at least one parameter can advantageously be arranged to be provided by spare capacity arising in the Digital Signal Processors found within the apparatus and primarily arranged for controlling the monitoring, compression and/or recording of signals.
As mentioned above, the particular parameters arranged to be identified by the apparatus can be selected from those that are considered appropriate to the requirements of, for example, the call-centre provider.
However, for further illustration, the following is a non-exhaustive list of parameters that could be identified in accordance with the present invention and assuming that the telecommunications traffic concerned comprises a plurality of two-way telephone interactions such as conversations:
non-voice elements within predominantly voice-related interactions for example dialling, Interactive Voice Response Systems, and recorded speech such as interactive voice response prompts, computer synthesized speech or background noise such as line noise;
the relationship between transmissions in each direction, for example the delay occurring, or the overlap between, transmissions in opposite directions;
the amplitude envelope of the signals, so as to determine caller anger or episodes of shouting;
the frequency spectrum of the signal in various frequency bands;
advanced parameters characterizing the actual speaker which may advantageously be used in speech authentication;
measures of the speed of interaction, for example for determining the ratio of word to inter-word pauses;
the language used by the speaker(s);
the sex of the speaker(s);
the presence or absence of particular words, for example word spotting using advanced speech recognition techniques;
the frequency and content of prosody including pauses, repetitions, stutters and nonsensical utterances in the conversation;
vibration or tremor within a voice; and
the confidence/accuracy with which words are recognized by the receiving party to the conversation so as to advantageously identify changes in speech patterns arising from a caller.
Parameters such as the following, and having no direct relationship to each call""s content, can also be monitored:
date, time, duration and direction of call:
externally generated xe2x80x9ctaggingxe2x80x9d information for transferred calls or calls to particular customers;
As will be appreciated, the importance of each of the above parameters and the way in which they can be combined to highlight particular good, or bad, caller interactions can be readily defined by the call-center provider.
Advantageously, the apparatus can be arranged so as to afford each of the parameters concerned a particular weighting, or relative value.
The apparatus may of course also be arranged to identify the nature of the data monitored, for example whether speech, facsimile, modem or video etc. and the rate at which the signals are monitored can also be recorded and adjusted within the apparatus.
According to a further feature of the invention, the means for identifying the at least one parameter can be arranged to operate in real time or, alternatively, the telecommunications signals can be recorded so as to be monitored by the means for identifying at least one parameter at some later stage.
Advantageously, the means for recording the actual occurrence of the identified parameter(s) can be arranged to identify an absolute value for such occurrences within the communications network and/or call-centre as a whole or, alternatively, the aforementioned recording can be carried out on a per-conversation or a per-caller/operative basis.
The means for recording the occurrence of the identified parameter(s) can advantageously be associated means for analysing the results of the information recorded so as to identify patterns, trends and anomalies within the telecommunications network and/or call-center.
Advantageously, the means for recording the occurrence of the identified parameter(s) can, in association with the means for identifying the predetermined parameter and the means for monitoring the telecommunications signals, be arranged to record the aforementioned occurrence in each of the two directions of traffic separately.
Preferably, the means for identifying the source of the two-way traffic includes means for receiving an identifier tagged on to the traffic so as to identify its source, i.e. the particular operative within the call-centre or the actual caller. Alternatively, means can be provided within the telecommunications monitoring apparatus for determining the terminal number, i.e. the telephone number, of the operative and/or the caller.
The aforementioned identification can also be achieved by way of data and/or speech recognition.
It should also be appreciated that the present invention can include means for providing an output indicative of the required identification of the at least one predetermined parameter. Such output can be arranged to drive audio and/or visual output means so that the call-centre provider can readily identify that a particular parameter has been identified and in which particular conversation the parameter has occurred. Alternatively, or in addition, the occurrence of the parameter can be recorded, on any appropriate medium for later analysis.
Of course, the mere single occurrence of a parameter need not establish an output from such output means and the apparatus can be arranged such that an output is only provided once a decision rule associated with such parameter(s) has been satisfied. Such a decision rule can be arranged such that it depends on present and/or past values of the parameter under consideration and/or other parameters.
Further, once a particular conversation has been identified as exhibiting a particular predetermined parameter, or satisfying a decision rule associated with such parameters, the apparatus can be arranged to allow ready access to the telecommunications xe2x80x9clinexe2x80x9d upon which the conversation is occurring so that the conversation can be interrupted or suspended as required.
As mentioned previously, the apparatus can be arranged to function in real time or, alternatively, the apparatus can include recording means arranged particularly to record the telecommunications traffic for later monitoring and analysis.
Preferably, the apparatus includes means for reconstructing the signals of the telecommunications traffic to their original form so as, for example, to replay the actual speech as it was delivered to the telecommunications network and/or call-center.
The apparatus can therefore advantageously recall the level of amplification, or attenuation, applied to the signal so as to allow for the subsequent analysis of the originating signal with its original amplitude envelope.
Further, the apparatus may include feedback means arranged to control the means for monitoring the telecommunications signals responsive to an output from means being provided to identify the source of the conversation in which the parameter has been identified, or the decision rule associated with the parameter has been exceeded.
A further embodiment of the present invention comprises an implementation in which means for recording and analysing the monitored signals are built into the actual system providing the transmission of the original signals so that the invention can advantageously take the form of an add-in card to an Automatic Call Distribution System or any other telecommunications system.
Also, it will be appreciated that the present invention can be advantageously arranged so as to be incorporated into a call-center and indeed the present invention can provide for such a call-center including apparatus as defined above.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of monitoring signals representing communications traffic, and comprising the steps of:
identifying at least one predetermined parameter associated with a monitored signal:
recording the occurrence of the identified parameter: and
identifying the traffic stream in which the parameter was identified.
The invention is therefore particularly advantageous in allowing the monitoring of respective parts of an at least two-way conversation and which may include the of analysis of the interaction of those parts.
Of course, the method of the present invention can advantageously be arranged to operate in accordance with the further apparatus features defined above.
The invention is described further hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: